Soldier, covered or not?

[stoneybrooks]

I am currently active duty military and my wife is retired military. I was about to get dive insurance (mainly to cover a possible ride to deco and deco:depressed. She stopped me and was quite sure that if this happened Tri-care Prime would cover the bill. The next question is will a dive boat captain accept tri-care prime as a viable insurance as I know some will not let you on their boat without insurance? Anyone out there dealt with this already?

 

[Armymutt25A]

I can't speak to the Tri-care part - probably should call them, just make sure you are in the mood for a long painful discussion. As far as you, there should not be a problem. As long as you are not engaging in an unacceptable behavior - there will be a line of duty investigation - you shouldn't have any issues. I dive off the NC coast with groups of AD guys and none of us carry any dive insurance - foreign concept to most of us - and have never had any issues from the boat. You can walk into any emergency department in the country with your ID card and not have to worry.

 

[japan-diver]

We deal with lots of military divers over here, many of the divers here carry independant insurance. As the military will cover recompression treatment if you need emergency transport or helo evac this is generally not covered by the military. If you are traveling and diving some type of supplemental insurance is worth it to cover evac and other expenses that tri-care will not.

 

[letterboy]

I can only imagine that Tricare may cover some of the costs of recompression etc.

However one little gem offered by a DAN is the replacement of some equipment as well as accommodations etc as a result of a DCI.

see the below thread for some interesting information:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/293399-dan-dive-insurance.html

I know this is not in the DAN forum, but I have DAN so I figured I would give an idea of what they offer

BTW Where in NOVA are you?

 

[stoneybrooks]

A medical representative at my job that also dives conducted some research. He told me that with Tri care Prime you are covered for transport to a facility to receive emergency treatment, receive that treatment, and then if they are not able to provide the appropriate treatment at that facility, further transport. That of course will not help you for lost and damaged gear, missed flights, blown out dives etc.

 

[Doubler]

I am retired military and I can assure that the military will cover YOUR expenses as an active duty member, your retired spouse on the other hand maybe SOL depending on where the incident happens. You are much better off getting independent Dive Insurance. Dive Assure is a primary insurance and not a secondary insurance so you both would be covered. In my opinion TRICARE sucks for retirees but that is just me. If this were to happen over seas say like in Belize I would almost guarantee that your wife would not be covered. Get DAN or Dive Assure.

 

[buckedoff96]

Doubler, I'm active duty Army but at my 20 mark. When I retire it's possible that I'm SOL with Tri care?? I'm still not 100% about tri care after retirement. Hear alot of things about how bad it is when someone retires. True or not??

 

[Justin Poteet]

According to the tri-care website, evac and chamber is cover for scuba.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy | TRICARE
Air Evacuation | TRICARE

But, not equipment